It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

No Labels/Draft Walker/Peterson Clone Corp called The Can Kicks Back is Coming… Track It

Calling itself a “movement” of “millenials,” a website called The Can Kicks Back (TKCB) hasn’t yet made a public launch, but it is already at work behind the scenes to set up its organizational infrastructure.

Oddly enough, in a posting on a jobs board TKCB Communications Director Jake Parent reveals that it is anything but an organization led by “millenials”:

A group of Millennials is launching a campaign called “The Can Kicks Back” to get young people around the country involved in pushing for a non-partisan “grand bargain” to fix our fiscal future. Among our board of advisers is Erskine Bowles (Clinton’s Chief of Staff), former Senator Alan Simpson, former Senator Evan Bayh, Former Comptroller General David Walker, and Third-Way Founder Jonathan Cowan.

This is an exciting opportunity to learn how to run a winning campaign and a chance to make a better future for our country.

We are looking for interns to do work in communications, outreach, and field. Please see descriptions and details about applying below.

Jake Parent
Communications Director
The Can Kicks Back…

Parent continues in this jobs notice, talking up TCKB as a “grassroots coalition” but noting that even before its launch stipends are already available, indicating that some big funder has already stepped up to the plate. Who could that funder be? A millenial?

Evan Bayh’s not a millenial. Erskine Bowles is not a millenial. David Walker is not a millenial. Jonathan Cowan is fond of posting photos of himself that make him look young, but he was actually born in the 60s. If you think Alan Simpson is a millenial, you need to get a new pair of glasses. These are all aging or old wealthy men. They’re all affiliated with the activities of billionaire social security privatizer Peter G. Peterson, another non-millenial man. They’re associated with No Labels, an operation of billionaire Pete Peterson. They’re associated with the Concord Coalition, an operation of billionaire Pete Peterson.

A look at the communication patterns and following relations of The Can Kicks Back and its associates on Twitter reveals that The Can Kicks Back is hardly grassroots. Although The Can Kicks Back has just 144 followers on Twitter and 61 likes on Facebook, most of those come from the Peter G. Peterson universe of think tanks and advocacy organizations. It’s firmly embedded in an old fogey DC beltway network. Look up these Twitter accounts following The Can Kicks Back before it ever begins and you’ll find a who’s who of Peterson billionaire funding and sponsorship:

It’s important to track this sort of thing now, because in a few weeks TCKB will buy tens of thousands of Twitter followers from a consulting company, obscuring its origins and basking in its paid-for stable of “grassroots followers.”

3 comments to No Labels/Draft Walker/Peterson Clone Corp called The Can Kicks Back is Coming… Track It

Brilliant work, Jim; thanks so much for this. Keeping an eye on the Peterson Puppets’ latest and greatest astroturf austerity-for-poor-folks promotion schemes is a lot like playing Whack-A-Mole, isn’t it? As quickly as they botch one, they pop up another…even before the previous effort’s Form 990s are filed. Ya gotta give ole man Pete Peterson credit for tenacity. Of course, if we were a reclusive octogenarian multi-billionaire like PP, we’d have the leisure and the resources for such tenacity, too.

We’ll follow their antics closely, probably with extreme prejudice. Thanks again for the heads-up.

Liberal Buttons, Political Bumper Stickers and Sweat-Free Shirts

To keep our voices independent of moneyed interests, the writers of Irregular Times have never accepted money for advertising on this website. But we still have to pay the bills! To help cover our expenses, we sell our own designs of liberal activist bumper stickers, buttons and sweatshop-free shirts.